


The World in Her Hands

by DJRezYourGays



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: AGIs always make me cry, F/F, Shut up don't touch me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-04 10:30:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12769137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DJRezYourGays/pseuds/DJRezYourGays
Summary: As Aloy walks among the ruins of the GAIA compound, her focus picks up on fragmented vids showing just how much the AI cared for its creator.MicroWriMo 2017Prompt: Lost





	The World in Her Hands

"Stay here," Aloy told the charger that had carried her to the edge of the ruins, patting its metal flank as she surveyed the wreckage.  It huffed and shook its head, dancing from foot to foot in hopes of keeping the frost from binding its parts.  Aloy rubbed her arms as she climbed the slight, snow-covered incline leading to the location her focus had marked with its flickering blue glow. 

This datapoint seemed especially faint, even compared to the others - an errant strand of information that had made it out of the Zero Dawn bunker somehow, and was now threatening to wink out at any moment.  Still, Aloy was careful as she approached, in part out of caution but also reverence, anticipating the nature of the logs she would find at the top.

As she passed through the vaguest echo of a doorway that had once stood, her focus triggered the holographic message, displaying a familiar form.  Her form - or, more accurately, Dr. Sobeck's, standing in front of a console with a mug of something steaming in her hands.

"How is it, doctor?" The voice of the GAIA AI joined her, its timbre soft and comforting despite the crackling on the recording.  There was genuine concern in its tone, worried that its creation wouldn't measure up.  Dr. Sobeck smiled.

"It's fine, Gaia," she said.  "Reminds me of the stuff we made in grad school."  She took another sip and turned, taking a seat as she pulled up a series of reports on the various elements of the project.  Aloy saw the symbol for the HADES program and felt her breath catch in her throat.  

The GAIA AI flickered into view behind Dr. Sobeck, watching her worry over the progress of the few lagging teams.  "It's not enough," the woman muttered to herself, setting the coffee aside and leaning over the desk with both hands on her temples.  "It's never going to be enough."

The AI reached a hand out to reassure her before thinking better of it, leaving the gesture to go unseen, save by their unknown observer tucking herself into a corner to escape the biting wind.  "It will be," GAIA said, her voice still filling the room, her holographic form as yet unseen by the woman she was hoping to comfort.

"We've run the projections a thousand times," Dr. Sobeck groaned, laying her head down on the desk.  "We're too far behind--"

"The teams have surprised you before," Gaia insisted.  "You said it yourself - with a project this unique, those projections barely mean anything."

"That's because I needed to sell people on this crazy idea," Sobeck muttered, sinking even lower in her chair.  "God, what have I gotten these people into?"

"Dr. Sobeck.  Elisabet..." Gaia reached forward again before catching herself, drawing her hands back and cupping them over her virtual heart instead.  She watched Dr. Sobeck in silence as Aloy in turn watched her, seeing the journey of pain playing out across the hologram's face.  It became rapidly clear to Aloy just how much Gaia cared for her creator.   There were hints of something else there as well, but before she could get a better look the image flickered and vanished.

It shimmered back to life a moment later, but the scene had changed.  Again she saw Dr. Sobeck and the Gaia AI.  Elisabet was now pacing the room as an image of the world and the advancing Faro plague spun slowly behind her.  Gaia's expression hadn't changed.  "--another seventeen percent," Dr. Sobeck was saying.  "ARTEMIS is at least a week behind, MINERVA can't agree on anything and AETHER just had to scrap their latest prototype.  The only team that's hitting all its milestones is HADES!"

"You accounted for this," Gaia reminded her, reappearing at the other end of the room to try and head off the pacing, with no success.  "There are tolerances--"

"--which we're rapidly exhausting," Sobeck shot back.  "It's happening too fast.  Damn it, Faro, why did this have to be the one thing you could actually do right?"

Gaia's image again shifted to intercept Dr. Sobeck, who finally paused in her pacing and retreated to a nearby chair.  "I know, I know," she said.  "We recruited these people for a reason.  We need a miracle, and these teams have the best chance to deliver one.  But Gaia, what if I was wrong?  What if we can't do it?  What if I brought them all here for nothing?"

"Then," Gaia said, giving the question careful consideration, "you would have given them the chance to spend their last years working with the greatest minds on the planet, trying to save the world.  I do not think any of the teams would regret that gift."  A light chuckle from Dr. Sobeck brought a tiny glimmer of a smile to the AI's face, the barest hint of hope - something they both desperately needed.

"Let's run the numbers again," Elisabet said, getting back to her feet and carrying a familiar confidence in her voice once more.  "Maybe we can pull someone off the DEMETER team to help make up the difference."

"Excellent," Gaia said, brightening considerably.  "I'll start a fresh pot."

"Thanks, Gaia," Elisabet said.  "For everything."

The AI's image paused, flickering on the recording as it looked back to where Dr. Sobeck had already started busying herself with new projections.  Aloy watched as Gaia smiled invisibly, her face alight in something more than simple compassion.  Aloy found herself smiling despite a heavy weight in her chest. 

Watching these two wrestle through the doubt and darkness that could only come with the final certainty of the world of the Old Ones being obliterated above them, it felt achingly familiar to her.  Aloy wanted to reassure them, to tell them that their plan would work, that life would return in abundance.  She wanted to tell them how she'd defeated HADES and activated the signals atop the tallnecks and united the clans around Meridian where the new Sun King was ushering in a new era of peace for all. 

She wanted to tell them most of all that she had found the focus, and the stories and logs.  She had found them - their echoes, their hopes and dreams and worries and fears.  She wanted to tell them how she would tell their story to others as long as she could, so that no one would forget the sacrifice of the Old Ones, nor repeat the mistakes make.  People would know what they did.  People would know their names.  They might not understand, they might not listen, but Aloy would tell the story anyway, so that it would never be lost.

As she watched the recording end and flicker out, leaving her with the chill wind and the empty ruin and the slowly falling snow, Aloy wondered if Elisabet ever knew how the AI truly felt.  She headed back to her charger, rubbing her arms against the cold, but carrying a newfound warmth with her as she headed back to Meridian.


End file.
